McCrystal breaks Irish Record

Bryan McCrystal (34), who was shortlisted for the Athlete of the Year award at the Triathlon Ireland Annual Awards, has broken the Long Distance Irish Record he set in Barcelona just last month.

McCrystal was racing at Ironman Arizona where he finished in a time of 8:30:50 for the 3.8km swim, 180km bike and full marathon run. The previous record stood at 8:41:29 and was set at Ironman Barcelona.

McCrystals splits for the Arizona race were 1:02:54 for the swim, 4:16:34 bike and 3:07:14 run.

With McCrystal one of the top cyclists in the country as well as a noted triathlete his bike split was the 6th fastest of the day and helped him to a 12th place overall finish.

There was also a quality performance from fellow Dundalk native Owen Martin who finished 31st overall and 1st in the 40-44yrs AG in a time of 9:03:58.

The race was won by Lionel Sander of Canada in a time of 7:58:22. Sanders is a multiple Ironman and Ironman 70.3 winner and placed 4th in the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championships.